EP0657849B1 - Méthode et dispositif pour imprimer en couleur au jet d'encres utilisant un précurseur incolore - Google Patents

Méthode et dispositif pour imprimer en couleur au jet d'encres utilisant un précurseur incolore Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0657849B1
EP0657849B1 EP94308588A EP94308588A EP0657849B1 EP 0657849 B1 EP0657849 B1 EP 0657849B1 EP 94308588 A EP94308588 A EP 94308588A EP 94308588 A EP94308588 A EP 94308588A EP 0657849 B1 EP0657849 B1 EP 0657849B1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
precursor
recording medium
ink
pixel location
pixel
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EP94308588A
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German (de)
English (en)
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EP0657849A3 (fr
EP0657849A2 (fr
Inventor
Ross R. Allen
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HP Inc
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Hewlett Packard Co
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Publication of EP0657849A3 publication Critical patent/EP0657849A3/fr
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
    • G06K15/00—Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data, e.g. computer output printers
    • G06K15/02—Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data, e.g. computer output printers using printers
    • G06K15/10—Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data, e.g. computer output printers using printers by matrix printers
    • G06K15/102—Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data, e.g. computer output printers using printers by matrix printers using ink jet print heads
    • G06K15/105—Multipass or interlaced printing
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/21—Ink jet for multi-colour printing
    • B41J2/2107—Ink jet for multi-colour printing characterised by the ink properties
    • B41J2/2114—Ejecting specialized liquids, e.g. transparent or processing liquids
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41M—PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING
    • B41M5/00—Duplicating or marking methods; Sheet materials for use therein
    • B41M5/0011—Pre-treatment or treatment during printing of the recording material, e.g. heating, irradiating
    • B41M5/0017—Application of ink-fixing material, e.g. mordant, precipitating agent, on the substrate prior to printing, e.g. by ink-jet printing, coating or spraying
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J19/00—Character- or line-spacing mechanisms
    • B41J19/14—Character- or line-spacing mechanisms with means for effecting line or character spacing in either direction
    • B41J19/142—Character- or line-spacing mechanisms with means for effecting line or character spacing in either direction with a reciprocating print head printing in both directions across the paper width
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
    • G06K2215/00—Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data
    • G06K2215/0082—Architecture adapted for a particular function
    • G06K2215/0094—Colour printing
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
    • G06K2215/00—Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data
    • G06K2215/101—Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data involving the use of ink jets
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
    • G06K2215/00—Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data
    • G06K2215/111—Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data with overlapping swaths

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to ink jet printers. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing consistent, high quality, multi-color ink jet printing having variable print density on any of various media.
  • So called tiling algorithms have been used to minimize the amount of ink applied to the medium and thus avoid somewhat color-to-color bleed and paper cockle and curl.
  • Such tiling algorithms control the amount of ink applied during printing to produce a depleted matrix on each pass of a scanning printhead. A solid area fill is thereby eventually built up only after several passes of the printhead. In this way, the medium is not saturated during any one printing pass, and the medium is allowed to dry partially during the interval between printing passes.
  • a hot-melt (solid) ink is delivered to the recording medium in a liquid state.
  • the ink freezes upon coming into contact with the recording medium surface, thereby immobilizing the colorant component of the ink on the surface of the recording medium.
  • the use of excessive heating causes undesirable structural changes in the medium, for example dimensional changes, browning, and embrittlement due to water loss in paper media, or due to melting in polymer based media, such as transparency films. Additionally, if the ink vehicle is evaporated too rapidly, the various colorants used in the ink can precipitate on the medium surface, resulting in browning of the printed region and poor adhesion of the colorant to the medium surface.
  • Reactive chemistry provides another energy source for effecting ink phase change that may be used in color printing. This approach mitigates some of the foregoing problems by introducing anionic/cationic reactions among the several colorants applied to the recording medium.
  • the energy source for phase change is provided in the form of chemical energy in a binary ink system where one of the two components of the system contains a colorant and the other a fixer. Such two-part ink system undergoes a chemical reaction on the surface of the recording medium.
  • a first component of the binary system is applied contemporaneously with, or a short interval before, a second component of the binary system. Both pre- and post- treatments have been considered in the art. When the two components are combined on the recording medium, a chemical reaction takes place that immobilizes the ink.
  • the various means taught in the art for applying such multi-part inks have included wetted rollers and wipers on the unprinted media, spray heads and misting devices, and thermal ink jet printheads.
  • multi-component inks have been investigated, proposed, or adapted for use in ink jet printers to eliminate the coupled problems of wet and dry paper cockle, color bleed, slow dry time (i.e. the time that elapses after printing a region with any color before the printed region is sufficiently dry that it cannot be smeared), and allow media-independent high quality single-pass color printing.
  • slow dry time i.e. the time that elapses after printing a region with any color before the printed region is sufficiently dry that it cannot be smeared
  • media-independent high quality single-pass color printing Nor have such inks been suggested as a viable alternative to the commonly accepted use of both multi-pass tiling algorithms and the application of thermal energy to the ink printing process.
  • EP-A-0564252 discloses the use of tiling algorithms to solve the problem of print non-uniformity in multiple-color printing using multiple print-heads and ternary printing. Pixels are divided according to related thinning arrangements.
  • a method for applying binary or ternary ink jet ink chemistry to a plurality of pixel locations on a recording medium surface comprising the steps of:
  • an apparatus for applying binary or ternary ink jet chemistry to a plurality of pixel locations on a recording medium surface comprising:
  • a four-color ink-jet printing system includes the following process steps:
  • the invention exploits to advantage the ability of an ink jet printer to deliver a precisely metered quantity of a component in a binary or ternary chemical reaction to a precisely defined location on the surface of a recording medium. Because the quantity of such component applied to the recording medium surface is precisely controlled, the size of the resulting conditioned area on the recording medium surface is precisely controlled. Chemicals are delivered only to those areas where they are used, thus making efficient use of consumables. In this way, the invention provides a method and apparatus for applying two- and three-part ink chemistries to a recording medium using an ink jet printer.
  • the medium is conditioned as set forth above by adding a fifth printhead to a four-color printer.
  • the fifth printhead applies a colorless liquid to the recording medium as a component of a binary or ternary ink chemistry.
  • binary chemistry involves the component in the "fifth printhead” with one primary color, usually cyan, magenta, yellow, or black.
  • Ternary chemistry typically involves printing two primary colors to form secondary colors (red, green, blue) along with the component in the "fifth printhead".
  • this colorless ink component applies this colorless ink component to the recording medium surface conditions the medium prior to application of colorants to the medium surface, and thus defines a print location on the recording medium surface at which the colorant is fixed upon application, and within the boundaries of which the colorant is maintained.
  • the colorant is immediately immobilized on the recording medium surface, thereby avoiding color bleed; and the colorant is constrained within the recording medium surface location defined by the colorless ink component, thus allowing reliable, high quality one-pass, multi-color printing on any desired recording medium.
  • the two- or three-part ink chemistry used in the present invention has the objective of controlling cockle and drytime by chemical means, heaters and fans may be eliminated.
  • the invention provides a method and apparatus for applying a precisely metered and placed component of a binary or ternary ink chemistry, referred to as the precursor (or part "A") component, to a recording medium, such as paper or overhead transparency film.
  • the precursor component serves to condition the recording medium surface to prevent cockle and curl.
  • the precursor component also provides a component of a chemical reaction that prepares the recording medium surface to immediately immobilize colorants when applied to the recording medium surface and thus enable one-pass, four-color printing. Additionally, application of the precursor to the recording medium surface conditions the medium surface to immobilize colorants applied thereto and thereby eliminates color bleed, while allowing uniform dot gain independent of media, and while reducing drytime, thereby increasing printing speed.
  • the invention provides the foregoing advantages while minimizing the consumption of the precursor component, while minimizing the hardware and firmware burden of applying the precursor component to the recording medium surface.
  • Fig. 1 is a partial schematic side view of a thermal ink jet printer 10 employing cartridges or printheads 12,14,16,18 that provide cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K) colorants, and employing a precursor (A) cartridge or printhead 20.
  • the part "A" cartridge 20 is operated to apply a colorless component of a binary ink to a recording medium 13 at each pixel location where a subsequent CMY or K drop is placed.
  • This embodiment of the invention is provided for printers having either a scanning printhead or pagewide arrays of printheads since an objective of the ink system is to provide single-pass CMYK printing (without multipass tiling).
  • the part "A" component or precursor serves to condition the recording medium and thereby prevent color bleed, while producing media-independent spot size without introducing cockle.
  • ink jet printers are well known for their ability to place precisely metered quantities of inks at precisely determined locations on a recording medium it is expected that known ink jet printers may be readily adapted to operate in accordance with the teachings herein.
  • This reaction time may require a spacing or separation in time between the application of the part "A” component to the recording medium surface and the application of the first colored droplet to the recording medium (or vice versa if the colorant is to be applied first, as may be the case in some applications of the invention).
  • this time separation or spacing is provided by physically separating the printhead providing the part "A" component from the first colored printhead, thereby increasing the time it takes for a point on the moving recording medium to pass under both printheads.
  • the part "A" component printer may be placed and operated to print on a separate, previous swath from that of the CMYK printers. This is desirable both to reduce product width and, potentially, to allow the part "A” material to spread on the recording medium and react with it before the addition of colored inks.
  • one feature of the invention involves placing the part "A” or precursor printer in an arrangement relative to the color and/or black printers that minimizes the width of the printer.
  • Timing considerations for printing of the part "A" component on a recording medium surface to condition the recording medium, relative to the placement of a colorant drop are typically as follows:
  • an ink chemistry should be chosen in which recording medium conditioning time is minimized to accordingly minimize spacing between the part "A" component printhead and the colorant printheads.
  • the scanning carriage may be either wider or deeper depending on how the fifth printhead is arranged.
  • the arrangement of the service station may be complicated by the need to avoid contact and mixing between the colorants CMYK and the precursor "A" on the nozzle plate or service station components. Additional power supply, drive electronics, swath RAM, processor burden, and interconnect may also required.
  • the rate of consumption of the part "A” component depends upon the total use of all other ink colors. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the supply of the part “A” component is exhausted asynchronously with any color. Depending on quantity of the ejected droplet, the part "A" component may have the highest rate of consumption or be approximately matched to one color, preferably that color that is most used, i.e. black.
  • the invention it is desirable to provide a sensor that detects either the exhaustion of the precursor or when only a small quantity of the precursor remains and that, in response thereto, switches the printer into a conventional multipass, tiling mode to minimize color bleed. It is likely that switching to a conventional print mode may degrade both color bleed and cockle performance of the printer, but doing so will allow the user to continue printing. Thus, this embodiment is considered an optional implementation of the invention.
  • Fig. 2 is a plan view of a recording medium 22 having a surface 24, including seven pixel locations 23 which correspond to seven potential print locations for an N * 7 print head.
  • the direction of paper travel during printing is indicated in the figure by an arrow 25.
  • the figure shows those locations to which a part "A" spot 26 has been printed, and which correspond to each location that is to receive a colorant or ink spot. That is, the part "A” component is shown printed everywhere a black or colored spot is to appear.
  • the sequence of increasing spot diameters e.g. as indicated by numeric designator 21, is provided to represent schematically the spread of part "A" on paper for a fraction of a second after deposition.
  • CMYK printer of the invention The various colors that may be printed with the CMYK printer of the invention are shown in Fig. 2 on the surface of the recording medium 22 and include cyan 27, blue 28, green 29, magenta 30, red 31, yellow 32, and black 33a-33c.
  • a drop of black ink 33a is applied to a conditioned location on the paper surface.
  • numeric designator 33b the ink reacts with the colorless part "A" component in a complementary reaction that immobilizes the ink on the recording medium surface and within the area bounded by the location to which the part "A" component has been applied, as shown in the figure by numeric designator 33c.
  • the printer of the invention prints a pixel of colorless liquid at each print location to define in a precise fashion a uniform print dot.
  • Colorant subsequently printed at such conditioned location is both carried across the predefined dot to provide uniform dot gain and is confined within the conditioned area to prevent feathering. Bleeding is avoided because the reaction between the precursor part "A" component and the colorant immobilizes the colorant within the conditioned region. That is, although the ink drop spreads slightly upon application to the surface of the paper due to kinematic effects of drop splashdown, the ink drop does not significantly diffuse across the paper surface.
  • Various ink chemistries that may be used in connection with the invention are known. See, for example U.S. Patent No. 4,694,302, Bushleman et al , Reactive Ink-Jet Printing.
  • the part "A” printer is activated if any CMYK spot is printed within the N x N area. This reduces the number of part “A” printers (orifices), with a corresponding reduction in the complexity of drive electronics. Both of these reductions contribute to lowering the cost of printer implementation.
  • part "A” may be printed where some of the CMYK pixels are empty within the boundary of the part "A” spot.
  • CMYK Resolution The five-printhead printer scans the swath buffer performing a logical OR on all data to produce a swath bit-map in which a part "A" drop is printed everywhere a CMYK drop is to be placed.
  • the OR function is accomplished in firmware as the CMYK swath buffer is filled.
  • Fig. 3 is a simplified schematic showing an example of printing part "A” in any pixel with part "B".
  • a swath buffer is provided for each color (Y, M, C, B) and for part "A" (identified collectively in the figure by numeric designator 30).
  • a spot that is to be printed at pixel position "0" (33) for each of the colored printers (Y, M, C, and B) is output from each swath buffer to OR gates 31,32, thereby actuating the part "A" printer to print a dot of part "A” component at that location.
  • a single buffer is used with hardware OR of the CMYK data.
  • the part "A" component printer has the same number of nozzles as the largest of the CMYK printheads to enable single-swath conditioning of the recording medium. This increases the number of drivers and interconnect by approximately 25% over that of a printhead system.
  • At least two swath buffers are required: one for the advanced part "A"-swath containing data for the subsequent CMYK-swath, one for the current CMYK-swath.
  • Data can be stored in alternate buffers on alternate swaths, where one buffer is filled as the other buffer is being read.
  • CMYK Low-Resolution A + High-Resolution CMYK: This embodiment of the invention reduces the number of nozzles on the part "A" printer and thereby reduces the number of drivers and the complexity of the interconnect.
  • the swath width of the part "A" component printer is still the same as the largest of CMYK component printers. Swath RAM requirements are not necessarily reduced in this embodiment of the invention because the CMYK swath must be preprocessed to determine if any CMYK drop is printed within the boundary of the larger part "A" component pixel.
  • Figs. 4a and 4b which provide a simplified schematic showing an example of printing part "A" at one-half resolution of part "B".
  • a group of part "B" pixels are shown having a resolution of N dots/inch (d), and which are identified as pixel 1, pixel 2, pixel 3, and pixel 4 (40). If any part "B" pixel in the group shown in the figure (40) is to be printed, then part "A” is also printed (41), preferably having a resolution (d 1 ) large enough to cover each pixel location that may be printed as pixel 1 (p1), pixel 2 (p2), pixel 3 (p3), and/or pixel 4 (p4).
  • part "A" pixel being printed at N/2 dots/inch (42). That is, if any pixel of the 2 x 2 pixel group 40 is to be printed, then a part "A" component having a resolution of the same size as the 2 x 2 group is printed 41, thereby recording the desired pixels on the recording medium 42. Accordingly, in this embodiment of the invention, a single part "A" component dot is printed for from one to four adjacent part "B" pixels.
  • Fig. 4b shows a logic implementation of this embodiment of the invention in which a "TRUE" input for each of pixels 1, 2, 3, and 4 to be printed is provided to an OR gate 46,47,48, and 49 for each colored printer C, M, Y, and B for a group of part "B" pixels (pixel 1, pixel 2, pixel 3, and pixel 4, described above in connection with figure 4a).
  • the "TRUE” output of each OR gate (46,47,48, and 49) is input to an OR gate 44 which, in turn, provides an output 45 that actuates the part "A” printer and prints a part "A" dot on the recording medium when its output is "TRUE".
  • part "A” component is printed for any occurrence of part "B" pixels in a 2 x 2 matrix.
  • the representation of an "OR” gatein Fig. 4b is provided for symbolic purposes.
  • the invention may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or by any other technique.
  • a precursor or part "A" component reservoir may be physically packaged with the reservoir for black ink, so that the precursor component is automatically replaced with a black printhead or black ink cartridge.
  • black ink a precursor or part "A" component reservoir
  • This frees the user from managing additional individual consumables. Since black is usually consumed most rapidly, linking replacement of the part "A" component to that of the black ink may provide a close approximation of actual depletion rates for most users, and thus offers a convenient consumable management scheme which reduces the number of consumables the consumer need to stock, thereby minimizing consumer confusion. Accordingly, the invention should only be limited by the Claims included below.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mathematical Physics (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Ink Jet (AREA)
  • Particle Formation And Scattering Control In Inkjet Printers (AREA)
  • Ink Jet Recording Methods And Recording Media Thereof (AREA)

Claims (8)

  1. Procédé pour appliquer une chimie d'encre binaire ou ternaire pour jet d'encre sur une pluralité d'emplacements de pixels sur une surface de support d'enregistrement (13) pour une imprimante à jet d'encre polychrome ayant une tête d'impression d'encre séparée (12, 14, 16, 18) pour appliquer chacune d'une multiplicité d'encres de couleur, comprenant les phases consistant à :
    appliquer un précurseur incolore sur ladite surface de support d'enregistrement (13) à chaque emplacement de pixel sur ladite surface du support d'enregistrement en utilisant au moins une tête d'impression d'encre séparée pour conditionner la surface du support d'enregistrement à chaque emplacement de pixel avant l'application d'encre colorée sur ledit emplacement de pixel ;
    appliquer une entre colorée à chacun desdits emplacements de pixels conditionnés ;
    dans lequel la quantité dudit précurseur d'encre appliquée est réduite à un minimum parce que la quantité dudit précurseur d'encre appliquée audit support d'enregistrement est commandée précisément et que la dimension de ladite zone conditionnée résultante sur ledit support d'enregistrement est commandée précisément, de sorte que ledit précurseur d'encre n'est débité que sur les zones dudit support d'enregistrement où elles sont utilisées ;
    dans lequel ledit précurseur et ladite encre colorée réagissent, en confinant ainsi l'encre à l'emplacement de pixel défini par ledit précurseur et en immobilisant ainsi immédiatement ladite encre colorée sur ledit emplacement de pixel, le procédé étant caractérisé en ce que :
    on détecte la quantité dudit précurseur qui est disponible pour conditionner le support d'enregistrement ; et
    on commute ladite imprimante sur le mode d'impression à chevauchement à passages multiples lorsqu'il ne reste qu'une quantité dudit précurseur qui est insuffisante pour conditionner ladite surface du support d'enregistrement.
  2. Procédé selon la revendication 1 comprenant en outre les phases consistant à :
    exécuter à chaque emplacement de pixel un OU logique sur toutes les données contenues dans une mémoire d'andain d'organe imprimant (30) pour chaque couleur de ladite multiplicité d'encres de couleur pour déterminer quelle encre colorée de ladite multiplicité d'encres colorées est imprimée sur ladite surface de support d'enregistrement (13) audit emplacement de pixel ; et
    appliquer ledit précurseur à chaque emplacement de la surface de milieu d'enregistrement (13) auquel un pixel de ladite encre colorée doit être imprimé.
  3. Procédé selon la revendication 1 ou 2, comprenant en outre les phases consistant à :
    déterminer le moment où un pixel coloré (40) est appliqué à au moins un emplacement de pixel, comme partie d'un groupe d'emplacements de pixels dans les limites d'un emplacement (41) auquel ledit précurseur est appliqué et
    appliquer ledit précurseur audit groupe d'emplacements de pixels sur ladite surface de support d'enregistrement lorsque l'encre colorée doit être enregistrée sur au moins un emplacement dudit groupe d'emplacements de pixels.
  4. Procédé selon une quelconque des revendications précédentes, comprenant en outre les phases consistant à :
    appliquer ledit précurseur avec deux têtes d'impression de précurseur séparées pendant l'impression bidirectionnelle.
  5. Imprimante à jet d'encre polychrome ayant une tête d'impression séparée pour appliquer chaque couleur d'encre, un dispositif pour appliquer une chimie de jet d'encre binaire ou ternaire à une pluralité d'emplacements de pixels sur une surface de support d'enregistrement, comprenant :
    une première tête d'impression (20) pour appliquer un précurseur incolore à ladite surface de support d'enregistrement (13) à chaque emplacement de pixel sur ladite surface de support d'enregistrement pour conditionner la surface de support d'enregistrement avant l'application d'une encre colorée audit emplacement de pixel ;
    au moins une deuxième tête d'impression (12, 14, 16, 18) pour appliquer une encre colorée à chaque emplacement de pixel conditionné ;
    un réservoir de précurseur raccordé à ladite première tête d'impression et adapté pour lui fournir ledit précurseur ; et
    dans laquelle la quantité dudit précurseur d'encre appliquée est réduite à un minimum parce que la quantité dudit précurseur d'encre appliquée audit support d'enregistrement est commandé précisément et que la dimension de ladite zone conditionnée résultante sur ledit support d'enregistrement est commandée précisément, de sorte que ledit précurseur d'encre n'est débité que sur les zones dudit support d'enregistrement où elles sont utilisées ;
    dans lequel ledit précurseur et ladite encre colorée réagissent en confinant ainsi l'encre à l'emplacement de pixel défini par ledit précurseur et en immobilisant ainsi immédiatement ladite encre colorée sur ledit emplacement de pixel, caractérisée par
    un capteur connecté à ladite première tête d'impression et adapté pour détecter la quantité dudit précurseur qui est disponible dans ledit réservoir de précurseur pour conditionner ledit support d'impression ; ledit capteur étant connecté pour commuter ladite imprimante sur un mode d'impression à chevauchement à passages multiples lorsque ledit capteur détecte qu'il n'y a pas assez dudit précurseur dans ledit réservoir du précurseur pour conditionner ledit support d'enregistrement.
  6. Dispositif selon la revendication 5, dans lequel ladite première tête d'impression (20) applique ledit précurseur sur ladite surface de support d'enregistrement (13) à chaque emplacement de pixel ; et
    dans lequel ledit précurseur conditionne chaque emplacement de pixel pour conditionner une tache ayant une dimension constante indépendante du support.
  7. Dispositif selon la revendication 5 ou 6, comprenant en outre :
    une mémoire d'andain d'organe imprimant (30) pour stocker des données d'impression correspondant à des emplacements de pixels ; un élément logique (31, 32) connecté à ladite mémoire d'andain d'organe imprimant pour exécuter à chaque emplacement de pixel un OU logique sur toutes les données stockées dans ladite mémoire d'andain d'organe imprimant pour chaque couleur desdites encres à couleurs multiples afin de déterminer les emplacements de ladite surface de milieu d'enregistrement (13) sur lesquels des pixels sont imprimés ; et
    des moyens connectés audit élément logique pour faire travailler ladite première tête d'impression pour appliquer ledit précurseur à chaque emplacement de la surface du support d'enregistrement où un pixel doit être imprimé.
  8. Dispositif selon une quelconque des revendications 5 à 7, comprenant en outre :
    des moyens pour déterminer le moment où une encre colorée est appliquée audit au moins un emplacement d'impression sur ladite surface de support d'enregistrement en tant que partie d'un groupe d'emplacements de pixels dans les limites d'un emplacement sur lequel ledit précurseur est appliqué ; et
    des moyens connectés auxdits moyens pour déterminer et qui répondent à ces derniers en faisant travailler ladite première tête d'impression pour appliquer ledit précurseur audit groupe d'emplacements de pixels sur ladite surface du support d'enregistrement lorsque de l'encre colorée doit être enregistrée sur au moins un emplacement dudit groupe d'emplacements de pixels.
EP94308588A 1993-11-30 1994-11-21 Méthode et dispositif pour imprimer en couleur au jet d'encres utilisant un précurseur incolore Expired - Lifetime EP0657849B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US15988993A 1993-11-30 1993-11-30
US159889 1993-11-30

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EP0657849A2 EP0657849A2 (fr) 1995-06-14
EP0657849A3 EP0657849A3 (fr) 1996-01-10
EP0657849B1 true EP0657849B1 (fr) 2000-01-05

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US (1) US5635969A (fr)
EP (1) EP0657849B1 (fr)
JP (1) JP3678447B2 (fr)
DE (1) DE69422483T2 (fr)

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Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0657849A3 (fr) 1996-01-10
EP0657849A2 (fr) 1995-06-14
US5635969A (en) 1997-06-03
JP3678447B2 (ja) 2005-08-03
JPH07195823A (ja) 1995-08-01
DE69422483T2 (de) 2000-10-12
DE69422483D1 (de) 2000-02-10

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